RTE has been rocked to its core after Pat Kenny sensationally quit – to take a mega-bucks offer with rival Newstalk.

The former Late Late Show host made the dramatic move to end his 41 year career with the State broadcaster after being offered what is believed to be a €1million deal.

And close friend Gay Byrne insisted money was “the root” of his decision to leave after contract negotiations broke down over plans to force him take a further pay cut.

He added: “It’s a major loss for RTE. I think money was at the root of it all. I think he’s been a little upset with RTE for some time.

“I think he has been a little dissatisfied in RTE and presumably Denis O’Brien came along with a better offer, an offer you can’t refuse, now and then it happens, and you grab it while the going is good.”

Bosses had been trying to make Pat take another 30% cut to his €630,000 salary – which had hit a massive €950,976 in 2008 – so they could keep him.

But the 65-year-old told them he wouldn’t take the cut, with RTE Director General Noel Curran admitting they “couldn’t match” Newstalk’s massive cash offer.

But Pat insisted it wasn’t simply money that made him decide to move to Newstalk, after he “agonised for weeks” about shaking up his life along with the support of wife Kathy and his children.

He added: “I had two offers on the table, the money was not the overriding factor at all. RTE made me a very generous offer to continue.

“But I weighed it up, and discussed it with the family, and they detected the enthusiasm I had for fundamental change.”

Pat made his final trip to Montrose today where he said goodbye to his Today With Pat Kenny production team, with RTE insisting he was “leaving the organisation with immediate effect.”

A source said: “There was a lot of sadness and shock inside RTE. Apart from the bosses right at the top of the organisation, no-one had a clue this was coming.”

Now, the highly-respected broadcaster will be presenting a 10am to 12.30 slot on Newstalk from September, with Pat admitting he was delighted to have a “new challenge” in life.

He added: “I am relishing the opportunity and the challenge to work in the independent commercial sector... I am delighted to have been invited to participate in a new on-air adventure.

“I want to pay tribute to my wonderful and talented colleagues in RTE who contributed so much to our joint successes. They may no longer be my colleagues, but I hope they will always remain my friends.”

Pat – who is known to have been unhappy in RTE for a long time – also admitted he was glad not to be living in an “institution” anymore.

And the ex-Prime Time presenter immediately started a war with his former bosses by vowing his new rival 10am-12.30pm show would be working on “building a major audience”.

He added: “If I was ever going to do it, now was the time. There was probably never going to be an opportunity to do something as dramatic as this.

“What fascinates me about what is on offer in Newstalk, is that it’s a pretty blank canvas to innovate. It’s very challenging, I’m under no illusion as to the task ahead.

“I have never gone too many years without a fairly significant change in my professional life whether its moving from current affairs into light entertainment, even doing the Eurovision Song Contest.

“A lot of people said, ‘Don’t do it. It’ll ruin you.’ But I did it, and then the Late Late Show and the Frontline. And the reason I embarked on those changes was because they excite me.

“This excites me. The manner of the approach suggested that Newstalk had big ideas and big ambitions.”

A TV3 spokeswoman admitted they “wouldn’t rule out” talking to Pat – whose departure trended worldwide on Twitter – as he insisted he wanted to get back on the box soon.

He added: “I’ve no immediate plans and I hope to return to screens. But in what capacity? I don’t know. I am open for discussion with anyone who is interested in talking to me.

“But I don’t want to work with the same intensity, of say two programmes a week for say 40 weeks a year; that is quite demanding.

“What happens is you get home at midnight from Prime Time, you’re tired, you’re up at 6.30am the following day. When you do that twice a week, it’s fine for the first three or four weeks.

“When you start doing that over 10, 20, 30 weeks, you begin to question whether you can do everything as well as you’d like.”

RTE Director General Noel Curran revealed the station knew that Pat had the Newstalk offer under his belt for days and tried to keep him.

He added: “Pat Kenny’s contract with RTE expired earlier this year and we have been aware for some time that he had an offer from commercial radio.

“Through lengthy negotiations every effort was made to retain Pat’s services but unfortunately we could not come to an agreement.”

But the TV chief insisted they would always “keep discussions open” on him coming back.

He said: “We are ending – I spent 20 minutes with him this morning – with no animosity here. You never know what will happen down the line.”

Now Noel Curran revealed that radio bosses are planning to “look ahead to refreshing our Radio 1 schedule” as management continue talks on who should be the replacement.

And he added that it was “not impossible” they could now lose other big-name presenters to independent stations.

He said: “We need to recognise exactly what our on-air talent brings. But we may lose others.

“We have reduced the fees substantially. The commercial market, despite what people have said about tired voices on RTE, tend to approach the most experienced broadcasters on RTE.”

RTE pal Joe Duffy, who was presenting Liveline when the news broke, said: “I am as shocked as everyone else to hear that Pat Kenny is leaving RTE and I wish him well.”

Today host Maura Derrane added: “I was shocked, Pat Kenny is an RTE institution but I wish him the best of luck. He will be missed at the station.”

And Newstalk’s Sean Moncrieff was shocked on air when it broke, telling listeners: “After the news we just heard at 2pm, there’s only one thing I can say, holy s**t. None of us had a clue about that.”